A treble on the mixed turf and sand card at Taipa on June 14 has seen Fausto Durso take a one win lead in the Macau riding premiership over Manoel Nunes.

Durso who kicked home his 600th Macau winner on Northern Champion on June 1 has been in sparkling form of late and now has his sights set on a third Macau title.

“I had around three months off at the start of the season so it’s been good to get to the lead now and it would be nice if I can be Champion Jockey again.” Durso said.

With talk still abounding that Manoel Nunes will return for the final two months of the season, we could be looking at the closest jockeys ‘premiership race since the epic battle between Irishman Robby Burke and Australian John Didham back in the 1999-2000 season.

In a contest that went right down to the wire on the final day of the season, both riders were involved in a nasty fall with four races still remaining on the day, but picked themselves up off the turf to soldier on.

At the end it was Robby Burke who defeated John Didham by one win (112 to 111) setting a new Macau riding record in the process for the number of winners in a season.

Durso’s night on Friday started with an armchair ride on the Patrick Lee trained mud lark Labore, who was lonely in the run from the six hundred when he strode away in the heavy conditions to romp home by ten and a half lengths in the Class 3 & 4 over 1500 metres.

Gary Moore’s proven wet tracker Lucky Twin Star was the next of the Brazilian rider’s winners with another all the way win in the Class 1 over 1200 metres.

Patrick Lee racked up a double for the night when Oracle Master under Durso found too much for his opponents in the Class 4 & 5 over 1050 metres.

With just 14 race days remaining for the season, and the strong possibility of Nunes returning, a battle between the Brazilian horsemen would be the perfect climax to the season.

* A treble on Friday night extended Gary Moore’s lead in the trainer’s standings to 19 wins over Geoff Allendorf with a seventh Macau Trainer’s Title looking a foregone conclusion for the master conditioner.

Moore leads on 51 wins over Allendorf’s 32, with Patrick Lee slipping into third spot with 31 wins per medium of a double at the weekend.

With only 14 race meetings remaining Moore could easily close up shop and still coast home with a decent margin, but that’s the last thing on his mind with plenty more young talent still to be produced before the season’s close.

“We still got a lot of youngsters that I plan to bring out for the last six weeks of the season so I would expect to reach the 60 mark.” Moore said.

Moore’s three winners on Friday were Happy School Boy (Stanley Chin ) 0 – 50 Special Conditions 1500 metres turf, Lucky Twin Star Class 1 turf and Best Pioneer again with Chin on top in the Class 3 over 1600 on the all weather.

No one celebrates a win better then Gary Moore but of his three winners on Friday it was the win of Lucky Twin Star that was the most satisfying with Moore predicting the win a fortnight prior.

“It’s been a big job to get this horse back.

“He’s had knee issues since the end of last season and I have to thank the Vet Clinic in particular Dr. Eugene Reynders for the good work they have done with the horse.” Moore said.

“I knew two weeks ago he was back in business and I said if we got a wet track he was unbeatable.”

“He was in Class 5 on a rating of 30 when I got him and now he’s won six for me and rated now at 72.”

“Happy School Boy was a nice surprise because he had not handled the wet ground before, but I just told Stanley (Chin) to go forward and do your best.”

A champion international jockey who rode Gold River to victory in the 1981 Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe, Moore won seven Hong Kong jockeys’ titles and stands alone as the most dominant trainer in the history of the MJC with seven titles.

Singaporean trainer Charles Leck one the pioneers of Macau racing won three Macau Trainers Titles in 92’, 93’ and 94’, before moving back to his home country to be one of the best there.

Alan Tam set of new record of 106 winners in his first year as a trainer in the 2001 – 2002 season besting Queenslander Barr y Baldwin’s mark of 100 set the previous year.

Tam went on to break his own record in 2003 – 2004 with 108 winners and won the title again in 2006 – 2007 with 71 winners.

Local trainer Kim Cheong who was a former trotting driver in the Clubs early days as a harness racing venue won two titles back in 1998 – 1999 with 97 winners and again the following season with 69 wins.

Another local in K H Leong who also has been with the Club since the harness racing era won two championship titles in 2002 – 2003 with 88 winners and in the 2007 – 2008 year with 54 victories.